Seriously, if the intensity of his Emmy-winning portrayal of Detective Vic Mackey on the long-running TV series "The Shield" was too much to bear, it's his wife's fault.

If you find his portrayal of 1960s mobster Vincent Savino on the current CBS drama "Vegas" a bit unsettling, it's his wife's fault.

And if his murderous thief in the new film "Parker" keeps you awake at night, you know who to blame.

But don't think that Chiklis blames his wife for anything. In fact, he gives her credit for the resurgence in his career.

The 49-year-old actor with the familiar shaved head and stocky build will explain his wife's role in making him the intense actor he is today, and he'll also discuss his new movie, which opens Friday.

"Parker" is a movie about thieves. Jason Statham plays the title role, and he's a thief with honor. Chiklis is another thief, and he proves the adage about no honor among thieves. The two men work a heist together, but Chiklis tries to kill Statham after refusing to give him his cut of the heist. Statham spends the rest of the movie killing his way back to Chiklis and his money. Jennifer Lopez is also in the movie, but she is not a thief. She is in real estate, but she somehow winds up in the middle of the action looking good.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER:You've made quite a career out of playing tough guys. Was that your choice or the industry's?

MICHAEL CHIKLIS: It was my choice, but the funny thing is that in my early television career, maybe because I played John Belushi ("Wired") and "The Commish," I was typecast as the roly-poly affable guy.

Q. Did that upset you?

A. If you are an executive at a studio or a network, you're looking at millions of dollars in budgets, and thousands of working parts. It's easy to look at people as pieces of a puzzle. This guy fits into that part of the puzzle, and that guy fits in that part of the puzzle. I understood that.

Q. How did your image change from roly-poly affable guy to tough guy?

A. I had been in a string of shows playing the affable guy, and after one show called "Daddio," I was really frustrated. I never got a shot at playing the smart, nuanced, grown-up roles. It was my wife who said, "It's incumbent on you to re-invent yourself. It's not incumbent upon the networks to re-invent you." I thought that was brilliant. She was right. But I asked her if she knew what that meant. I would have to change physically, and I would have to refuse to work until I found the right thing. That could get very uncomfortable.

Q.What did she say?

A. She said, "We will sell this house and live in a hovel if we have to. I don't care. I know what you can do."

In real life, actor Michael Chiklis is an affable guy. But in TV series like "The Shield" and "Vegas," or in his new film "Parker," his intensity is frightening. PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES
In "Parker," Michael Chiklis, shown with Wendell Pierce, plays a thief with no honor who swipes the haul from a heist from an honorable thief played by Jason Statham. JACK ENGLISH, FILMDISTRICT
Before his transformation, Michael Chiklis played the good-hearted commissioner of a rural town in upstate New York in "The Commish." CHRIS H. BENGE, ABC
After his transformation, a much tougher-looking Michael Chiklis played a ruthless and corrupt cop on "The Shield." PRASHANT GUPTA, FX
When not playing tough guys in movies, Michael Chiklis can currently be found playing a mobbed-up casino boss in the CBS drama "Vegas." RICHARD CARTWRIGHT, CBS
If Michael Chiklis' transformation from cuddly guy to scary guy unnerves you, blame his wife, Michelle. JASON MERRITT, GETTY IMAGES
Michael Chiklis, center, took his transformation a step further when he played Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, in "Fantastic Four." Pictured with him are co-stars, from left, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans. 20TH CENTURY FOX
Michael Chiklis, foreground, and co-stars, from left, Wendell Pierce, Micah Hauptman and Clifford Collins Jr. look like they're up to no good in this scene from "Parker." JACK ENGLISH, FILMDISTRICT
Jason Statham plays the titular role of an honorable thief who gets double-crossed by dishonorable thief Melander (Michael Chiklis) and spends the rest of the film pursuing vengeance in "Parker." JACK ENGLISH, FILMDISTRICT
Jennifer Lopez plays a real-estate agent who apparently will go to great lengths to close a sale in "Parker." JACK ENGLISH, FILMDISTRICT
Michael Chiklis says of Melander: "I relished the malevolency of the character. You don't get to do that in real life. In make-believe land, just go for it." JACK ENGLISH, FILMDISTRICT

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